How to Carb Cycle for Fat Loss

It divides the week into three categories: no-carb days, low-carb days, and high-carb days. Alternate between all three to reap the maximum benefits.

No-Carb Days

On these days, you’ll load up on fibrous veggies with some lean proteins and healthy fats in the mix as well.

Starchy fruits, vegetables, and grains should be avoided to keep carbs low.

Aim for fewer than 25 grams of carbohydrates total, most of which should be from high-fiber vegetables. These days should line up with rest days or relatively light workout days.

Low-Carb Days

Again, fibrous vegetables can be eaten freely, but starch servings should be limited.

Healthy fats should be the main energy source and lean protein should be included with each meal.

For these days, sticking to less than 75 grams of carbs is key.

High-Carb Days

Healthy carbohydrate foods can be consumed ad libitum on these days and the goal should be at least 250 grams over the course of the day.

High-carb days should align with the days when you do your hardest workouts.

I recommend eating your biggest meal post-workout, but grazing throughout the day on nuts, fruits, and other healthy carbohydrate sources is encouraged to reach your goal.

How Does Carb Cycling Work?

Carb cycling is a strategic method to promote muscle growth and fat loss simultaneously, by influencing the hormones that affect body composition.

Let’s take a look at the top four factors that explain why carb cycling is so effective.

1) Insulin

When we eat carbohydrates, they are broken down into glucose.

Insulin is then secreted into the bloodstream and is responsible for carrying the glucose to the muscle cells for storage or into the liver to be used later as energy.

After a particularly carb-heavy meal, the excess glucose that isn’t needed in the liver or muscles is broken down and stored as fat instead.

This is why so many diets focus on moderating carbohydrate intake. If you only eat as much as you need, it prevents them from being converted to fat.

Carb cycling helps us manipulate insulin levels and use it to our advantage.

With carb cycling, low-carb and no-carb days are key in promoting insulin sensitivity and minimizing fat storage.

Meanwhile, high-carb days are used to refill carbohydrate stores, amplify exercise intensity, and encourage muscle growth.

2) Serotonin

This neurotransmitter serves an important role in mood stabilization, sleep, sexual desire, and appetite.

Carbohydrates can actually boost the production of serotonin, which is why consumption of high-carbohydrate foods is so common during times of stress of depression (1).

It also explains why low-carb diets are often unsuccessful; depriving yourself of carbohydrates can lead to a lot of undesirable consequences and it’s partly because serotonin production is affected.

By switching up carbohydrate intake, carb cycling can effectively keep serotonin levels steady and cut out the negative side effects that accompany a low-carb diet.

3) Leptin

Also known as the “satiety hormone,” leptin has a major influence on regulating intake. As its nickname implies, it’s responsible for blocking hunger and controlling our appetite.

There are a few ways that leptin can be thrown off balance. During times of starvation, our body works hard to drive leptin back up by making us hungrier and causing us to eat more to “reset” leptin levels (2).

Conversely, eating too many calories and carbohydrates over a long period of time can cause leptin levels to skyrocket.

As a result, our body becomes resistant to leptin, which means that our brain doesn’t get the signal to stop eating when we feel full.

Both ends of the spectrum can inevitably lead to weight gain.

Carb cycling works by varying intake levels throughout the week to keep leptin in check. As leptin wanes during low- and no-carb days, high-carb days follow and boost it back up.

4) Cortisol

This stress hormone plays a big part in glucose production. When cortisol levels get high, they push your liver to start converting the proteins in muscle into glucose for energy.

Carbohydrate consumption is able to prevent the production of cortisol and thus prevent the breakdown of muscle.